


It takes someone special

by TheUnserious



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates, Post-Wano Arc (One Piece), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26305375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUnserious/pseuds/TheUnserious
Summary: It seemed that nothing short of a Yonko's daughter could make Luffy think of anything other than food and fighting.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Yamato
Comments: 5
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

It was a rare moment of tranquillity on the open waters of the New World and the Thousand Sunny bobbed restfully amongst the normally treacherous waves. Its anchor was down, and soft swells of seawater lapped at its prow as calmly as if it were floating just off the coast of an island. The ship of the future pirate king looked downright peaceful for once, at least, from an outside perspective. The blissful song of the gentle waves and the occasional bird call completed the picturesque scene…only to be shattered by the sounds of the regularly scheduled programme of Strawhat destruction.

Nami couldn’t help but sigh for what felt like the 10th time that day as she brushed the dust of another destroyed piece of decking from her legs. We need to reach an island, fast she thought, once again repositioning herself for comfort in her deck chair in light of the most recent destruction. It had, at one point, been a beautiful day for sunbathing, one which Nami had intended to take full advantage of. But alas, being a Strawhat meant that no day was without chaos, no matter how peaceful it may first appear. The sound of splintering wood and Franky’s wails of despair resonated across the ocean.

“Get back here, you damn monkey!”

“Hey! That’s CAPTAIN monkey to you!”

Nami smirked to herself. As far as she could remember, he never asked for that from any member of their little crew. More proof of the flustering affect the newest crew member had on her captain. Well sunbathing’s done for the day, I guess. What now? Nami pondered.

Suddenly feeling mischievous and wanting to vent her frustrations over the wasted sun, the navigator got up from her chair and strolled over to her favourite gossip buddy, stretching the kinks of a hard days relaxing out of her body as she went. She didn't have to go very far, both Robin and she knew that the upper deck next to the rear mast was usually a place one could watch the chaos from a safe distance. The raven-haired women sat a few paces away at a small garden table, engrossed in a book.

To a casual observer, Robin would appear completely oblivious to all but the book her nose was currently buried in, no doubt a skill she had picked up from her life on the run. Nami knew better. The slight cocking of the head towards the commotion, the eye movement just a little too fast to be able to really read what was on the page and the small smile of someone who had just heard something rather amusing. Nami took these signs to mean that Robin was focused on something else entirely from what was in her book. She looked up and smiled warmly as Nami approached.

“Ahh Nami-chan, I thought I might see you soon,” the archaeologist said, amusement filling every word. Two slender arms sprouted from the wooden floor and slid a deck chair invitingly towards Nami. “Come, sit.” Nami gave her a grateful smile and took the chair, sliding into the comfortable seat, as Sanji swept through in a lovesick haze and placed a fruity drink on the nearby table, endlessly complimenting the beauty of the two women.

“To be honest, I was trying to ignore them,” Nami said with a sigh, thanking Sanji as he left. “But they’re making it difficult,” One of the Sunny’s doors was flung into the sea, as if to prove her point.

Robin could only laugh. “Yes, I think she may just be our most destructive member yet,” she said.

The pair sat in companionable silence for a while, soaking in the sun and occasionally catching glimpses of the two forces of nature they called crewmates, currently wreaking havoc across the ship. Yes, Yamato was certainly a lively addition to the crew. She was definitely Strawhat material, seeing as she was currently chasing after Luffy, waving her kanabo menacingly. To Luffy’s credit, he’d only gotten hit once or twice. The Strawhat captain ducked below a particularly savage swing aimed for his head and promptly got the hell out of there before Yamato could recover, stretching his arms all the way to the crow’s nest.

“ZORO HELP, YAMA-O’S GONE CRAZY!” the rubber boy shouted, propelling himself through the crow’s nest open window. The sound of a very heavy weight being dropped followed by Zoro’s yelp of pain proof that Luffy had found his bodyguard.

Yamato fumed loudly on the deck, shouts of “Fight me already!” and “Damn coward!” just about coming through past the string of swears. Luffy popped his head back out the window and if Nami squinted hard enough she could just about see the light blush coating his face. She laughed. He had it bad.

“I already told you!” Luffy began, lips pursed, looking at everything except for Yamato “I don’t feel like fighting right now,” He really did have a terrible poker face. It was also certainly the wrong thing to say, as evident by the further string of curses that he got as a response from the raging Yamato.

From her front row seat to the conflict, Nami watched on, amused at Luffy’s awful acting. “Do you think she has any idea?” she asked Robin.

“I think she might be a little preoccupied to notice,” Robin replied, her gaze moving from her captain over to the woman in question. “Besides, I doubt even Luffy knows why he’s acting this way.”

Nami snorted “No, he definitely doesn’t.”

The rest of the crew, including Luffy himself, did not seem to notice but to the Navigator and Archaeologist it was painfully obvious. Their captain, the densest person on the planet (other than maybe a certain swordsman), had finally, finally, taken an interest in a woman. It seemed nothing short of the offspring a Yonko could make Luffy think of anything other than food and fighting.

It had been two weeks since the crew’s victory at Wano and the party initially meant to welcome Jinbei to the crew was extended to bring Yamato into the fold as well. It was at that very party that Nami and Robin noticed Luffy acting rather strange.

Normally, he would bounce from group to group, inhaling anything that could be called food and talking animatedly to anyone and everyone. However, that night, right around the time Luffy had mistakenly stolen Usopp’s beer, his whirlwind of activity began to make pits stops in the same place several more times than it usually would. That place just so happened to be right next to Yamato. By the end of the night, he rarely moved from the Onis side.

At first, Nami had thought nothing of it, chalking it up to Luffy wanting to trade fighting stories but then the Strawhat captain had refused to participate in an eating contest in favour of talking to Yamato and, instantly, Nami knew something was up. Even Zoro couldn’t pry him away and that was saying something. Ever since that night Luffy flip flopped between wanting to spend every minute with Yamato and avoiding her entirely. Being on the same ship, of course, made that rather difficult and Luffy's erratic behaviour was only getting more obvious by the day.

One of the more recent signs of Luffy's little crush showed itself when Yamato one day decided that she wanted to spar with the man who had defeated her father, as a sort of personal test. Luffy accepted right away of course and the crew docked on an island nearby to allow the two powerhouses to go somewhat all out.

It had started about as well as fight between friends could and for a while it seemed that all parties would go back satisfied. 30 minutes into the fight however, Luffy looked rather red in the face, way more than he should have after such a short amount of time, and decided to call it quits, claiming illness. As soon as he was back on the ship, he retired to his room for the rest of the day and if she hadn’t had a sneaking suspicion of what was going on, Nami might have been concerned.

Yamato was not impressed and had been challenging Luffy to fights every day since, each time he would come up with a new excuse. Eventually, she stopped bothering to ask. So the two were now stuck in a sort of limbo where Luffy wanted to be around Yamato whenever he could but Yamato would drive him off with her demands for a fight. It amused Nami and Robin to no end.

From the relative safety of the crow’s nest, Luffy whined “Yama-oooo, can’t we do something other than fighting? Like…like fishing! Or food! Or...,” he trailed off, clearly out of ideas.

“Something else beginning with F?” Nami said in a whisper, drawing an uncharacteristic giggle from Robin.

“We can do whatever you want AFTER we’ve finished beating the hell out of each other dammit, now get down here!” Yamato yelled.

The conflict played out in real time on Luffys face as it seemed to be against his very nature to refuse a good fight, especially against such a tough opponent but, as was now the norm when it came to Yamato, Luffy held himself back. Whether it was because he didn’t want to hurt her (even if that was the point) or something else, Nami and Robin had no idea. All they did know was that it definitely had something to do with the fact that Yamato had managed to do something even Boa Hancock herself could not. Kindling Luffy's…baser instinct. Whatever was going on in Luffy's head regarding the newest Strawhat, one thing was clear. He was not going to fight her anytime soon.

“Sorry, I…Zoro said he needed help training,” With that, the captain retreated into the crow’s nest once again, leaving the object of his internal (and external) conflict gaping up at him.

To Yamato’s credit, her reaction was relatively restrained, in that she only threw her Kanabo at the crow’s nest window rather than tear the whole mast in half. After the satisfying crash of panelled glass, the Oni stormed off, leaving splintered footsteps in her wake. Franky was going to have conniptions.

“Honestly, at 19, you’d think he’d know how to handle things like this,” Nami pouted, clearly miffed that the little show had finished. “Looks like Yamato’s losing patience, think we should do something about it?” Her tone indicated that she was more than happy to let the drama continue.

Robin hummed in agreement “I think that would be wise, though it was certainly fun while it lasted,”

“Well…what do we do?”

Robin opened her mouth to say something then stopped, clearly surprised to find that she didn’t really have any good idea for that. She thought about it for a moment and sighed at what was the best she could come up with. “I suppose it can’t be helped,” she crossed her arms in a manner now very familiar to Nami and looked towards Luffy's refuge. In a shower of beautiful pink petals, a single arm materialised alongside one of the unbroken windows of the nest. It rapped against the glass pane and, after a moment, made a beckoning gesture with a manicured finger. “We’ll have to talk to Luffy first.”


	2. Chapter 2

990...991

Zoro had never been one to take an interest in other people's business. As far as he was concerned, as long as it didn't put him or any of his friends in danger, it was irrelevant. A distraction neatly filed away in his brain under ‘who the hell cares’ alongside such things as... non-alcoholic drinks, weapons that weren’t swords and the shitty cooks real name. Which is why it was a surprise to him just how interested he found himself in whatever the hell had Luffy so on edge. Of course, he could always tell himself that if something was bothering his captain, it was his duty as first mate to get to the bottom of it but, if he was honest, he’d already decided that Luffy’s behaviour wouldn’t be a danger to the crew. In truth, Zoro was intrigued and he knew it involved that Oni somehow.

992...993

To Zoro, Yamato had been a welcome addition to the crew . She was strong. The Strawhats defeat of the Beast pirates had made the rounds around the world and consequently, had painted a bigger target on their backs than ever before. They’d need to be on top of their game if they wanted to survive the race to the One Piece and Yamato’s strength bolstered their chances. Even if she had taken to attacking Luffy with a spiked club.

994...995

It was Luffy's own damn fault anyway in Zoro’s opinion. If the rubber idiot would just fight her again already, they could all move on with their lives. More of a reason to find out what the hell was wrong with his captain.

996...997

That had been what tipped Zoro off that Luffy wasn’t himself in the first place. His captain never backed down from a fight. 

998...999...1000

Zoro let the dumbbell fall from his hand and took several deep breaths. He sat down on the faux grass floor of the nest, feeling the sweat run off from his shoulders and down his arms and ran his calloused fingertips over the network of scars across his torso, including the diagonal memento he’d gotten from his one time mentor. Silently, he reprimanded himself for slacking in training. Wano had seen every member of the crew in an intense fight and they were all still healing. No time to slow down though. He thought, as he picked the dumbbell back up with his other hand.

1...2

He didn’t get very far into his set.

“..LP, YAMATO’S GONE CRAZY!”

Like a bolt of lightning, Luffy’s voice cut through Zoro’s haze of concentration. A pair of hands attached to unnaturally long arms gripping the windows edge was the last thing Zoro had the displeasure of seeing before the Strawhat captain bowled him over. In one swift movement, Zoro was on his ass, rubber idiot on top of him and a throbbing pain in his foot where the dumbbell had landed on it. An unmanly yelp escaped his lips before he could stop it. 

“Luffy! What the hell are you-” Zoro bleated, barely stopping himself from strangling the younger man. Luffy cut him off looking down at Zoro, mania in his eyes and shaking Zoro by the shoulders.

“You gotta help me! Yamato wants to fight again!”

“So what dumbass!” This only provided Zoro even more proof that something wasn’t right with Luffy. “Quit being such a baby and fight her!” he just about managed to say, through Luffy’ continued jostling. Before he could say much else, Zoro had to watch the unpleasant sight of Luffy stretching his neck all the way back to the window he’d just used as an impromptu doorway and have a shouting match with someone, presumably Yamato, on the deck below.

Zoro carefully extricated himself from underneath Luffy and groaned as he picked himself off the floor. He’d never, not even after all they’d been through, get used to Luffy’s idea of an appropriate entry. He grabbed his shoulder and slowly began to rotate his arm, working out the dull ache from an awkward landing, trying his best to ignore the lance of pain shooting through his foot. He eyed his captain's form as the rest of the rubber body pinged towards the window, still continuing the argument.

The swordsman observed his captain closely. He hid it well behind a veneer of apathy but Zoro was incredibly adept at reading people. Years of one on one duals had honed his sense of reading body language and expressions into a fine blade of acute skill. Yet, right now, Luffy’s actions were throwing him for a loop. Avoiding eye contact and blatant lies were symptoms of a variety of states of mind, but none of them could really explain why Luffy kept running away from a fight. If Zoro didn’t know any better, he might think Luffy had a school boy crush. Zoro snickered to himself, like that would ever be the case.

“Sorry, I…Zoro said he needed help training,” Zoro rolled his eyes but decided to let Luffy off the hook.

Luffy slumped backwards away from the window and lay, spread eagle on the soft floor of the crows nest. He looked thoughtful, as if he were trying to work out one of life's great mysteries. The illusion was shattered, litterealy, by a spiked club meeting a glass window. Zoro winced, more work for Franky.

Putting the cyborg's future meltdown out of his mind, the swordsman turned his attention back to the man currently sprawled out on the floor in front of him. Luffy barely noticed the big hunk of metal embedded into the ground inches from his head.

“Luffy.” 

“Yeh Zoro?”

“You know what I’m gonna ask.”

“I know, Zoro.”

This was how their serious conversations always went. Neither of them were particularly good with words, both preferring to speak through actions. However (current case notwithstanding) one could often tell what the other was thinking, it's what made them such an effective team. In Zoro’s mind, only Nami knew Luffy as well as he did and the witch was far more intelligent. Zoro scowled internally, damn woman probably knew exactly what was going on with Luffy. He’d have to talk to her later.

“Well?” Zoro folded his arms, expectantly.

Luffy heaved a deep sigh, moved himself into a sitting position and rubbed the back of his neck, rather sheepishly. “I...” he looked up, locking his gaze with Zoro’s one good eye “don’t know,” He finished lamely.

This is new Zoro thought. Luffy had never been one to be confused about how he felt. Choosing between different types of meat was about as far as his self conflictions ever went.

Zoro mirrored the way his captain sat. “Start from the beginning then, why won’t you fight her?” Straight to the point.

Luffy immediately dropped his head, refusing to meet Zoro’s eye. He stayed silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “It feels...weird,” he began after a while. Whatever he was about to say clearly made him uncomfortable. ”Like I get to-” he was cut off by the sharp sound of knuckle on glass and both pirates turned towards the interruptions origin. A disembodied hand beckoned them. 

Luffy launched himself to his feet, no doubt eager to escape the conversation and unknowing he was about to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.

~~~

“Ehh?, not like you to pull yourself away from training muscle head,” Nami said, cocking her head to side at the sight of Zoro almost lurking behind Luffy. The swordsman sat himself down at the decks railing, closing his eye and appearing to all the world completely disinterested. The fact that he was there at all proved otherwise.

“Ahh Shaddup weather witch,” 

After Robin's little calling card, it hadn’t taken long for Luffy (and apparently Zoro) to make his way down from the crows nest to where the two women lounged. He looked nervous, as if being this close to the rest of the ship meant that Yamato was going to jump from around the corner and start their little dance all over again. He fidgeted on the spot hopping from one foot to the other in a manner Nami had never seen from her fearless captain. It was almost surreal. 

“Relax, she’s fishing with Usopp and Chopper,” Nami chidded, the tension leaving Luffy’s body was visible.

Nami continued “Sit, we gotta talk.” Luffy did as he was told but opted to bury his head inside his hat rather than initiate any sort of conversation. So there he sat, cross legged on the hardwood of the deck like a child waiting to be scolded. He knew what was coming and he didn’t like it.. Nami couldn’t help but think of this as maturation, though. The old Luffy wouldn’t have had any of this, preferring to push away talk of serious things like emotions and behaviour. The Luffy before her may have been trying his hardest to bury himself within his namesake but at least he was there. She smiled fondly, proud of him in a way. The fact that he didn’t make an excuse to avoid this conversation was probably an indication that even he wanted to know what his issue was.

“Luffy, it's important to understand what you’re feeling, even if it confuses you,” Robin said. Her tone was soft, gentle like a mothers but with a touch of finality that gave her words weight. Luffy rarely listened to anyone but he did now.

When Luffy re-emerged from his hat, he was pouting. Nami’s eye twitched. There goes that maturity.

“How can I understand something that doesn’t make sense?” he asked, genuinely curious.

“Sometimes, it helps to verbalise what you’re thinking,” Robin said, voice still gentle as a feather.

“Verbal-eyes?”

“Yes, verbalise. It means to say something out loud,” Luffy sat enraptured by what Robin was saying but clearly out of his depth intelligence wise. “For example, your first fight with Yamato-san. Why don’t you tell us what you felt that was so off putting?”

Luffy stared at the ground, deep in thought. For a moment, Nami thought steam might curl out his ears. After several seconds he began, slowly.

“I tried to tell Zoro a second ago, it feels weird,” In response to his name, the swordsman eye opened a fraction. Luffy plunged on “I get kinda- AHH,” he rubbed his head, desperately trying to get his brain to function. “Irritated? No, that's not right,” he hummed in thought, searching his vocabulary. The light that went off in his head was almost visible. “Overexcited, yeh! that's the word!” he stated proudly. “But not like… the type of excited I normally get, it's different”.

Nami was the first to break the silence that followed with howls of laughter. Zoro could only look at Luffy incredulously and Robin was trying to maintain the composure she had started with. For his part, Luffy tried to figure out what was so funny.

“Nami, that’s not very nice,” Robin scolded gently, the effect was somewhat diminished by her own coy smile. 

At this point, Nami was outright on the floor clutching her stomach in mirth. “He... he won’t fight her because he gets…gets too horny! HA! That’s too perfect!” she could hardly breath.

Luffy looked downright baffled at this point. He turned to Zoro, who still stared at Luffy like he’d grown a second head. “Huh? What’s she talking about Zoro? Yamato’s the one that’s horny,” he put his hands up to the sides of his head and held his fingers in the shape of crude horns “I don’t have any horns”. This, of course, only served to deepen Nami's hysterics while Zoro looked into his captain's innocent face and tried his very hardest not to join her. The corner of his mouth twitched several times.

Ever the pinnacle of maturity, Robin continued her line of questioning with minimal giggling. “This feeling, Luffy, have you experienced it since then?”

Luffy went back to thinking “Hmmmm, sometimes if I think about her too much,” he said.

“Do you feel this feeling if you think about other people?” Robin asked. He shook his head, no thinking required. Robin smiled at that.

“It seems our beloved captain has all grown up,” she attempted to address Nami, who just about ceased her laughing fit long enough to hear the rest of the conversation.

“Looks like it,” Nami grinned. “Might have to educate him a bit more first, though,” she turned towards her captain and adopted a similarly soft voice to the one Robin had employed. “Luffy, do you know what it means to like someone?” she asked.

Luffy looked at her like she had said something stupid. “Don’t be dumb Nami, of course I do. I like all of you!”

Nami bopped him on the head with the back of her first, any trace of Robin's kind approach, abandoned. “Dumbass, not like that, more than just liking them as a friend,” the navigator contemplated the best way to describe the concept of romantic interest to her idiot captain. “In the same way Sanji likes women”. The faintest hint of understanding showed itself on Luffy’s face but the idea still seemed mostly lost on him.

“Are you saying I want to cook for Yamato?” he asked. Nami sighed, already exasperated. 

“Not quite, it’s more like…” What followed was a painful 10 minute process of using various methods of explanation to try and get Luffy to understand the basic idea of attraction. After 4 hand drawn diagrams, 6 metaphors for relationships and 1 round of bad acting, Nami gave up. “That’s it, he’s too stupid, just hand him over to Yamato, he’ll figure it out”, she pleaded an amused Robin.

Luffy was less than enthused about this plan “It’s not my fault you’re bad at explaining stuff,” he huffed indignantly and turned to face his first mate. “Zoro, you explain it”.

The swordsman had gone back to napping, having lost interest half way through Nami’s failed lecture. He spoke without opening his eye. “It’s like when you have meat that you like a lot and don’t want anyone else to have”

“Ahh, I see,” Luffy nodded sagely, which earned him a vicious punch from Nami.

“THAT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE, YOU IDIOT”

Robin stepped in before the ensuing argument between captain and navigator got too violent (before Nami got too violent that is). After a brief moment of cooling heads, the archeologist got the conversation back on topic.

“In anycase Luffy, do you understand what we’re getting at a bit better?” she asked.

Luffy looked troubled at this question, unsure of his answer. Several seconds of internal deliberation later, he spoke slowly. “Soooo you’re saying I like Yamato in a special way that makes me feel weird things about her?”. Everyone present was astounded at Luffy's apparent clarity of understanding. Robin nodded, pleased with the result. For a moment, Luffy was quiet again but by the way he opened and closed his mouth, he seemed to be gearing up to speak again.

“Shanks told me he liked Makino from my village a lot after I saw them kissing once. Is that what you’re talking about?” he sounded strangely serious, as if the matter suddenly became very important to him. Off to Robin’s side, Nami fummed in silence, her earlier attempts at explanation having been beaten out by a vague memory of Shanks and a metaphor for meat.

“Do you know what sex is Luffy?” she asked, much to the shock of both Zoro and Nami. It did not, however, shock them as much as Luffy’s answer.

“The thing you do to make babies right?” he said with a straight face.

“Yes, that’s right,” Robin was unfazed, which could not be said for the other two, who could hardly believe Luffy knew anything about the birds and the bees. Robin soldiered on through the sounds of Nami and Zoro’s jaws hitting the floor. “What you’ve been feeling is what’s called ‘sexual attraction’,” she spoke as if she were simply discussing the weather and not explaining the facts of life to a dense idiot of a man.

“I don’t want any kids though,” Luffy replied, looking unconvinced.

Robin laughed. “It wouldn't worry too much about that, it only means that you feel something special for Yamato, like you said before. Also yes, what you described with Shanks is a very similar situation” she finished.

The wheels in Luffy’s head began to turn, generating the beginnings of an understanding of the situation. “I think I get it,” he said. Climbing to his feet he smiled gingerly at the two women before him. “Thanks for your help, I don’t understand it all but hey,” his smile grew to a full on trade mark Luffy grin “Finding out is kinda like an adventure right?” Nami and Robin giggled at the unexpectedly adorable way of putting it.

“That’s pretty on brand coming from you,” Zoro’s voice carried over from where he remained sitting, having barely moved even throughout the chaotic conversation.

Luffy turned to his first mate and laughed “Shishishi, not sure what I’m ‘spose to do now though,” he scratched his head “can’t really speak to her at the moment”.

Nami had an idea. “Robin and I will talk to Yamato, y’know, girl talk,” she said.

Luffy looked at her confusion clear on his face “Huh? What’d you mean?”.

She sat back in her deck chair and looked straight up into the sky, slipping her sunglasses back over her eyes. The sun was shining as bright as ever and Nami sighed contentedly. She let out a girlish giggle followed by a not so girlish sly grin, one that Robin mirrored “Don’t worry,” she said “We’ll smooth things over”.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite being relatively small in the grand scheme of things, the Thousand Sunny was more than big enough to accommodate all of it’s denizens, even with new additions. For that reason, Ussop, Chopper and Yamato were able to fish in peace at the same time that Luffy received a lesson on the facts of life without hearing a single word of the rather thunderous ‘discussion’.

The three sat in companionable silence, legs dangling over the side of the stern and only barely focusing on their task. One could hardly blame them, the miles of untapped adventure they called the sea looked too beautiful to take your eyes off of. The sun half dipped below the horizon line, not quite enough to make it dark but just enough that the, normally endless, blue shimmered with bright oranges and reds. The cloudless sky, faintly dotted with the beginnings of several constellations.

Each held their fishing rod as if they might drop it if anything bigger than a carp took a bite which, in the new world, was likely. Chopper looked just about ready to fall asleep on the spot, his eyes opening and closing periodically. The reindeer swayed in his seat, only avoiding a long drop into the water by Usopp’s vigilance.

“Oii Chopper. Get some sleep,” the sniper said. Chopper wordlessly agreed, handing off his, comparably smaller, fishing rod to Usopp before dragging himself off the taffrail and lethargically making his way towards his room. So consumed by her own thoughts, Yamato hardly noticed him leave, despite Choppers mumbled ‘goodnight’ to her. 

She had always liked fishing. The boundaries of her old prison had been just big enough to allow for a rod with extra line to reach the shoals that swam deep beneath the surfaces of Onigashima’s shore. As long as she didn’t put her hands too deep into the water she could even sometimes drag her catch into the shallows to splash around with it. On her first day as a Strawhat, she had Jinbei teach her how to swim and had spent the day diving into the water and marvelling at the aquatic wildlife. After the fishman had saved her from drowning the 5th time, he forbade her from going in alone. Despite the whale shark's strict parameters, Yamato was thankful for being able to learn at all, relishing her newfound freedom.

At 28 years old, her life had only just really begun, all thanks to her new crew and it’s (currently) infuriating captain. Yamato cursed herself silently, having failed at her attempt to keep her mind off of the rubber man. Mostly against her own will, she found her thoughts drifting back to the man who had changed her life for good.

Despite her desperation to go out to sea and emulate her idol, Yamato had reservations about siding with Luffy at first. Their initial clash had removed any doubt in her mind about his strength but she remained cautious about him. The moment he had removed her shackles, her 20-year-long reminder of her father's cruelty, two things became very clear in her mind. One; she was going to hit her dad, very hard, and two; she would follow Luffy anywhere. 

Which is why her current relationship with him bothered her so much.

She hadn’t let anyone know her real reason for challenging Luffy to a fight, partially because her reasoning happened to be quite embarrassing, at least, for her. The truth was, as a child, some of the only attention she had ever received from her father had been when he would train her. He would even be pleased from time to time, if she ever showed promise in the ways of combat and so, in Yamato’s mind, fighting became akin to a twisted form of affection. As a result, she found it very difficult to express any affection or gratitude without resorting to a fight. She had simply been trying to show her appreciation to the man who had saved her life but instead she had driven a wedge between the two of them. You can be as bullheaded as your dad sometimes, she thought to herself, sighing dramatically.

“You dropped your rod about 5 minutes ago, you know,” Usopp’s voice snapped her out of her self pity. She looked into his tired, yet amused, face and down to her own hands, only to find he was right. She cursed and became red in the face. 

“Sorry, Usopp-san, I know you make those yourself,” she bowed her head slightly.

“Ehh? Stop with the formality would ya? We’re friends,” he replied, swinging his legs back onto the deck. He cut his own fishing line and haphazardly chucked his rod to the deck.

“Right, I apologise,” Yamato bowed her head again and Usopp rolled his eyes, smiling.

“Well anyway, you seemed worried about something, that was a pretty big sigh just a second ago,”

Yamato remained on the taffrail, swinging her bare feet back and forth, no doubt wanting to pretend that she hadn’t heard Usopp's question. She had never been a very good liar and who better to tell when someone was hiding the truth than the king of lies himself. She had been a Strawhat for just over 2 weeks and she had already caught on to Usopp’s con man expertise. Recognising that she had no choice, Yamato decided to confide in him the truth. After several more seconds and another drawn out sigh, she spoke.

“Does the captain hate me?'' she kept her eyes locked on the darkening waters below, in a vain attempt to stave off her embarrassment. She did not expect the laugh she got from Usopp as a response. She shot him a mildly annoyed look.

“Sorry,” he said, still giggling slightly “It’s just…I don’t think I could picture Luffy hating anybody, not even his enemies,” the tone of respect in his voice was unmissable and Yamato found herself strangely happy about it. Usopp gave her a questioning look. “Is this about earlier?” he asked.

Yamato nodded “I feel like I may have taken things too far,” she said in self admonishment but Usopp waved his hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it too much, Luffy wouldn’t hold it against you,” he just about stifled a yawn but didn’t quite manage to hold back his exasperated sigh. “Honestly, why’s everyone so obsessed with fighting anyway? It’s exhausting,”

The Oni looked at him in confusion “How else am I supposed to say ‘thank you’?” she asked, as if the question had an impossible answer. Usopp could only give her a look he reserved specially for the crazier people in his life, a mix between disbelief and resignation. 

“You’re a Strawhat through and through you know that?” he said, giving her a small smile. “Besides, Luffy wouldn’t accept a ‘thank you’. Being able to go on adventures with you is thanks enough for him.” his smile was now full fledged, the respect for his best friend clear in his voice.

“He’s a big baby,” she pouted and crossed her arms, unable to forget the annoyance at not being given her fight. Even still, she couldn’t help but share Usopp’s admiration “But he is quite the man isn’t he?” her pout morphed into a gentle smile as she thought about the laughter she had shared with Luffy at their victory celebrations. She didn’t think much of it at the time but she was thankful for his presence at that party. Being the child of the man that had caused so much pain for the people of Wano inevitably drew some animosity for Yamato but having Luffy at her side, had helped ease tensions somewhat.

“Ehh? Is that a blush I see? Got a soft spot for our dear old captain do you?” Usopp wiggled his eyebrows and Yamato gapped at him like a fish. Her face was certainly red now thanks to his teasing comments. Usopp burst into laughter at the sight. “You should see your face Yama,” he continued his laughter. Yamato pouted once more, realising her mistake of rising to his bait. She turned away from Usopp with an indigent huff and stared back out at the horizon. 

Usopp clapped her on the shoulder, undeterred by her growl of annoyance. “You want my advice?” he stopped laughing now and while his face was still a mask of amusement, his eyes were sincere. “Just talk to him. Luffy’s any idiot but he listens. If something is bothering you he’ll want to help,” he gave her shoulder another pat and glanced over his own at something Yamato couldn’t see. He snorted “That’s my cue to leave, see you tomorrow Yama,”

It didn’t take long for Yamato to spot what Usopp was referring to, she could practically smell their mischievous intent. Nami and Robin strolled towards her, all sly smiles and knowing looks. Yamato gulped. This ought to be interesting she thought as she dismounted the railing to face the pair properly. 

“Nami-san, Robin-san,” she almost gave them a swift bow, but remembered Usopp’s words about her formality. Instead she smiled at them warmly, choosing to hide the wariness she felt about the impending conversation. “I apologise for earlier, I may have overreacted a little,” her smile turned sheepish but Nami waved away her apology.

“You wouldn’t be a good fit for the crew if you weren’t prone to a little ‘infrastructure destruction’ now would you? Don’t worry about it Yamato-chan,” Nami grabbed the much taller woman by the arm and gently tugged her back towards Robin. “We do need to talk though. C’mon, it's time for girl talk,” she said.

The phrase instantly sent a jolt of tension through Yamato’s body, making her even more on edge. It wasn’t as if she didn’t like Nami and Robin's company, quite the opposite in fact: she thoroughly enjoyed them both, it was just that she had never really had any female friends before and the concept was still rather new to her. Growing up on onigashima had never really presented her with much of an opportunity for friendship in general and so Yamato’s only real female interaction had been with Black Maria and Ulti. The less said about those two the better. In short, the prospect of ‘girl talk’ terrified her because she didn’t have a clue what it meant. 

Nevertheless, she let them drag her away, strongly wishing that she could just go back to fishing.

~~~

At the same time of Yamato’s untimely kidnapping, at the opposite end of the ship, Zoro and Luffy stood before a large set of double doors in the ship's interior.

Before Robin and Nami had left to deal with the Yamato side of the issue, they had charged Zoro with the infinitely more difficult task of making sure Luffy knew what to say to Yamato when the time came without making him look like too much of an idiot. Zoro was good at many things but, much like Luffy, saying the right thing at the right time to a woman was not one of them. With no idea what to do himself, Zoro (very, very reluctantly) had brought Luffy to the domain of the only man Zoro thought might be able to help. The kitchens.

He had run through all the other options in his mind before resorting to Sanji but every idea seemed worse than the last. Jinbei, in all his wisdom, had about as much experience with women as Zoro did, Chopper was too naive, Franky and Brook’s advice was likely to be useless and Usopp would simply find it too funny to help. That left Zoro with one option, as much as it pissed him off. So there they stood, on the precipice of the pervert cooks territory. Luffy was the one to open the door and make his way inside and Zoro followed after several seconds of regret. 

The room was still brightly lit despite the crew's last meal being a few hours earlier and its sole occupant stood with his back to the door, already well underway in preparing the food for the next day. The Blonde chef hummed a slow tune to himself as he worked, seemingly oblivious to his new audience.

That was quickly proven wrong however as he spoke in an irritated tone “I told you, no more sake or meat left you idiots,” he barely even turned his head which pissed Zoro off to no end.

To his own surprise, Zoro managed to reign in his annoyance just enough to reply without malicious intent “Ain’t about that, We need-,” he swallowed his pride “your help with something”.

That had gotten Sanji’s attention. He put down the knife he had been holding and turned to face the other two completely, a look of mild intrigue on his face as he took a short drag of the cigarette between his lips “Oh? Ready to admit how useless you are?” he looked smug.

Zoro’s hand instinctively drifted to the hilt of his favoured blade but resisted with a deep sigh. “Whatever you say Ero-cook, it’s him who needs it anyway,” he jerked a thumb towards Luffy who was far too distracted by a potential snack lying unattended on a countertop to pay any attention to the exchange. This of course sent Sanji into a blind rage and he proceeded to deliver a swift kick to his captain's temple.

“I’ll pretend that didn’t just happen,” he growled, grabbing Luffy’s twitching body and depositing him into one of the dining room chairs. “Not like you to ask for help, what is it?” He took another drag. Zoro couldn’t help but be surprised at Sanji’s 180 in attitude.

Luffy shook his head to clear the fog that had descended over his mind after Sanji’s kick but recovered rather quickly. “How do I speak to girls?” he asked, with all the childlike innocence in the world.

Sanji took a long puff of his cigarette, blinked twice and released the smoke, a slight twitching of one curly eyebrow being the only dent in his calm visage “One more time?”.

Luffy took a deep breath “Apparently the reason I’ve been avoiding Yamato is because I ‘have feelings’ for her, whatever that means, and Nami says I need to talk to Yamato about it. Nami also said I need to think about what I’m gonna say so Yamato doesn’t beat the crap outta me and you know how to talk to girls,” his face remained neutral throughout the entirety of his speech without a shadow of humour in his features. Sanji blinked again and looked to Zoro for answers. The Swordsman shrugged.

Taking a second to look back into his captain’s big round eyes for any sign of a joke, Sanji snuffed his smoke on the bottom of his shoe. He then calmly walked around the large dining table to the opposite side of where Luffy sat. Pulling out a chair of his own, he sat down. “Right,” he began “Here’s what you do”.

Sanji tried his best, he really did, but there was only so much he could do to turn his dumbass captain into an emotionally competent person. After the 7th time Luffy asked him what ‘radiant beauty’ meant, Sanji lost his patience and kicked him back out into the hallway (and the mosshead for good measure). Zoro kicked over some pots and pans in retaliation.

“Screw this, I’m going to bed,” the swordsman grumbled. He started to stomp off towards his quarters but stop once he caught sight of the concerned look on Luffy’s face. Zoro sighed “Oi Luffy, just talk like you normally would, don’t think about it too much,” he thumped the smaller man on the back and was glad to see a smile slowly make its way onto his face.

Luffy gave a nod of agreement and began to walk back to the stairs that led to the upper deck “Shishishi, I should probably think about it a little bit but you’re right,” he gave his first mate a big toothy grin “Thanks Zoro,” and made his way up.

Zoro heaved another deep sigh but couldn’t fight Luffy’s infectious smile “Damn idiot”. 

~~~

Neither Nami nor Robin said much to Yamato beyond the casual pleasantries one might exchange when dragging a friend to an undisclosed location. They guided her to the main deck and beyond it, down to the inner bow where their shared quarters were. Technically, it served as Yamato's room too but she rarely used it, opting to sleep outside more often than not. Another habit of living life trapped in one place, four walls could rapidly become suffocating for her. The three women entered the spacious chambers and Robin shut the door behind them with a wave of a hand. 

Nami had finally let go of Yamato’s arm and sat down on the edge of a rather large bed covered in silk sheets and Yamato found herself impressed that they had managed to find such luxury on the high seas. Robin sat off to one side on her own bed. The Navigator gestured to an equally comfortable looking futon next to where Yamato stood rooted to the ground and spoke in a soothing tone.

“Yamato-chan, don’t be so tense, we just want to talk,” her laughter was clear as a bell and went some ways to reducing the Oni’s feeling of unease. “How are you feeling? About everything with the rubber moron I mean,” her inflection was earnest, but with a hint of amusement as if she already knew the answer. 

Yamato allowed herself to relax even further and slid into the futon, her large frame taking up most of it. She smiled at the two women, her earlier conversation with Usopp having already loosened her tongue somewhat. Before she could stop herself she opened her mouth.

“Forgive me but I believe I may already know what you’re going to say and yes, I will try talking to Luffy before trying to bash his head in again,” she gave a thumbs up and a sweet, enthusiastic smile as if she hadn't just spoke about how she may potentially try to murder her captain again.

Nami’s face remained blank as she blinked several times in quick succession. “Well that was easy,” she said to Robin, who chuckled softly. Nami shook her head, throwing off the initial shock of Yamato’s easy agreement. “Well, yeh that was pretty much what we wanted to say but we wanted to give you a heads up as well,” she gave Yamato a semi-serious look. “Luffy...Luffy has some stuff he wants to get off his chest and knowing him he probably won’t say it in a way anyone can understand apart from him,” Nami continued despite the looks of confusion from Yamato. “What I’m trying to say is, be...be patient with him, whatever he says,” she waited for Yamato’s reply, who for her part looked thoroughly lost. Nami rolled her eyes, God she thought they’re perfect for each other.

Yamato’s eyes came back into focus. “Uhhh well, I can’t really say I know what you mean Nami-san but I promise I’ll speak with him,” another thumbs up, another enthusiastic grin. 

Nami shoulders slumped, exasperated. Yep, perfect. 

“I think that’s the best we can do for now, Nami,” Robin’s voice was full of humour

With the matter discussed (sort of), the three of them spent the next few hours enjoying each other's company. Both Nami and Robin had both been secretly relieved to have another woman on the crew, even if that woman was as destructive of any of the others. It was nice to offset the manly bravado somewhat. Yamato herself found talking to the two refreshingly easy and she started to wonder why she had ever considered the two so intimidating. They chatted like old friends, laughed at the antics of the crew at large and spoke of the future and what it might hold. 

When they were finished, Yamato felt herself grow a little more attached than she had been before. She already felt a sense of fierce loyalty towards Luffy but now, thanks to Usopp's words of encouragement, her evening with Nami and Robin and a million other small instances, she felt strongly that it extended to every single one of her crewmates as well. She wondered briefly if every new Strawhat went through a similar change of heart and decided that that is what made the crew so dangerous. She also decided then and there that she wasn’t going to let her issue with Luffy ruin her chance of a new life with the crew. She rose from her chair.

“Forgive me you two, I think I need to talk to the captain,” she shot them a sheepish smile.

Nami raised her eyebrows. “Right now? It’s like midnight”. Yamato gave her a nod to which Nami shrugged. “Alright then, just remember what I said, yeh? Let him explain himself a little,” Nami’s face was serious again and Yamato gave her a second nod to relax her.

“Thank you to the both of you, I’ll try and set things straight,” the Oni then made her way to the door of the chamber but stopped, realising she didn’t really have any idea where her determined mission was supposed to take her at this late hour. Luckily, Robin caught on to her plight.

“At this hour, he’s always in the same place,” the archeologist said with a fond smile “His favourite seat”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of forgot that Yamato is cannonically like 13 feet tall, lol oh well


	4. Chapter 4

It was common knowledge that the wild stretch of sea known as the New World was a death trap for any traveller caught unprepared. Infested with sea kings the size of islands, unpredictable weather phenomenon and even more unpredictable powerhouse pirates, the New World was as terrifying as it was exciting. However, it also had a second defining feature, one that only the privileged few got to know about. Its sheer beauty. If one could survive it’s numerous dangers, the second half of the Grand Line had some magnificent views. The captain of the Strawhat pirates, Monkey D. Luffy, lounged in his favourite seat, taking full advantage of one such view.

It was around midnight when Luffy sat himself down on the head of the Sunny, a place reserved only for him and despite the late hour he could see out into the ocean for miles. This was all thanks to the thousands of gem-like stars that hung suspended in a black canvas of a night sky. Some were tiny, little pinpricks of light that were no less captivating, while some were so big that Luffy swore he could reach out and grab one. Shanks had told him once that the stars were impossibly far away but with skies like that, Luffy decided that that couldn’t be true. 

Being one of the most wanted men on the planet had its perks sure but it didn’t really accommodate for peace and quiet. Life on the seas was so hectic, he hardly found the time to sit on his own and just stop. Contrary to popular belief, Luffy enjoyed that once in a while. He had discovered early on in his voyage that late nights such as these were perfect for what he was looking for. No fighting, no enemies or allies, no marines or pirates, just him and the sea. So, he made a habit of taking the first watch at night, giving him a few hours to make time for that relationship that was oh so precious to him. The stunning sights it allowed for were merely a bonus. 

Tonight however, his inner turmoil prevented him from enjoying it all to the fullest.

His mind was plagued with thoughts of the woman who he couldn’t seem to get out of his head. At least he kind of understood why now though. He shook his head, trying his best to focus on the view but his mind wouldn’t allow him to forget the Oni or Robin and Nami’s explanation of his own feelings. He’d had a vague idea of the concept of romance, courtesy of a younger him seeing something he shouldn’t have and hasty explanations from a flustered Shanks and Makino but the whole idea seemed so alien to him before, something that happened to other people. Now, after Yamato, he wasn’t so sure.

Still unsure of his own feelings, Luffy tried his hardest to distract himself.

“Okay, no more of this feeling stuff, look for something cool. Something cool, something cool... wow, that star is really shiny. That one next to it as well, kinda looks like two eyes. Yeh, really bright, pretty eyes... Yamato has pretty eyes to- NO, STUPID,”. He shook his head furiously, trying to remove any image of the woman from his mind. No such luck. Conceding to his intrusive thoughts, he flopped down onto Sunny's head.

Not for the first time, Luffy wished for Ace’s presence. He’d know what to do.

Ace. With a sudden surge of inspiration, Luffy jumped back up into a sitting position, one hand clamped firmly onto his treasured hat. Then, he plucked his hat from his head and held it at his chest, covering the starburst shaped reminder of his old weakness. It was childish, Luffy knew that, but whenever he covered his scar, for a brief moment, he could imagine that Ace had never been taken from him. It was his way of talking to his brother from time to time.

Closing his eyes and taking a firm breath, Luffy spoke “Alots changed since we last talked, Ace,” he smiled, feeling the warmth his brother had exuded, even before his devil fruit. “We finally went to Wano, can you believe that?” he waited for a response: only the silence answered. “Met an old friend of yours, Yamato. She's my crewmate now, how cool is that! Had to kick her dad’s ass first though,” the wind picked up ever so slightly as Luffy rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, preparing himself for what he was about to say. “I...I’ve been feeling weird things about her recently and Robin says it’s called ‘attraction’. I didn’t get it at first but I think I’m starting to,” he bowed his head, embarrassed. It wasn’t something he did often, but talking to Ace always made him feel better, helped him sort out the chaos that was his own mind. 

He sat that way for what felt like hours to him but in reality was only about 15 minutes, catching his brother up on the details of his life. “Anyway, that's pretty much everything. I’ll talk to you again soon though, hopefully by then I’ll be the pirate king,” he laughed to himself “Say hi to old man Whitebeard for me, see ya,” he lowered his hat down to his lap and opened his eyes, grinning from ear to ear. HIs smile faltered slightly when he realised he was alone again. Not for long though.

He sensed her before he heard her, she had that kind of presence. To him, she felt like a tiger prowling a jungle. Barely contained strength and ferocity simmering beneath the surface of a disarmingly elegant and beautiful form. Even when they had first met she had excited him, now he had an idea as to why that was.

Yamato crested the stairs to the helms deck just as Luffy set his hat back into its rightful position. He didn’t turn to greet her, only shifting to one side in his seat to give her space to join him. She took the invitation silently, even if her larger size made it somewhat of a tight fit. They sat in quiet contemplation, listening to the whistling ocean breeze and trying to work out what to say. To any who knew them, it was a rare sight to see the usually rowdy pair in such a calm state yet they remained that way for several minutes, simply enjoying each other's company. Yamato was the one to collect her thoughts first.

“Who were you talking to?” she asked so softly that Luffy barely heard her, as if she were reluctant to break the peace that they had found together up on Sunny’s head. 

“My brother.”

“I see.”

Luffy was surprised that she had accepted his answer without so much as an odd look in his direction. He was grateful for that. He spoke quickly to avoid the inevitable ‘what did you talk about?’ question. “How did you know where to find me?” he asked, taking care to make the question sound as non-hostile as possible.

“Robin-san told me you always come here,” she said. Luffy hummed in understanding.

“It’s the best place to see THAT,” he pointed straight up, indicating the array of constellations and looking over at Yamato as he did only to find that she was already enraptured by them, face full of wonder. Luffy smiled gently but quickly looked away once he felt his face heat up, glad that the light from the helm was behind them and could hide his cheeks.

“I’ve never seen them so bright before, it's beautiful” Yamato spoke in disbelief, just about tearing her eyes away to fix Luffy with an infectious grin. Unable to resist the urge, Luffy looked into her face once again, transfixed by eyes every bit as bright as that above him. She kept up her smile but the rest of her face twisted in mild concern at his awestruck look. 

“Are you okay, Luffy?” she asked while scooting closely to him, unaware of the effect that she was having on her captain. Luffy snapped out of his daze at the sound of his name and blushed harder at the reduced distance between their faces.

“Y-yeh I’m fine, all good,” he laughed and rubbed the back of his head, his terrible poker face on full display. Luckily, Yamato didn’t seem to notice so he tried to change the subject. “Couldn’t you see the stars from Onigashima?” he asked with mild trepidation. He usually tried not to bring up her home if he could help it.

“The smoke and fumes from Wano made it difficult,” she replied, the smile now absent from her face and Luffy mentally kicked himself very much wanting to see it again.

“Sorry Yamato, I know you don’t like talking about that place,” he said in a soothing tone. She didn’t say anything back, choosing instead to look up into the void of the night sky once more. Again they sat in silence, this time a rather awkward one, and again Yamato was the braver of the two.

“I worry I’m going to end up like him sometimes,” she didn’t specify who she referred to but Luffy had a pretty good idea. “All those people in Wano never got to see a sky like this because of him. What if I turn out just as bad?” she sounded almost desperate for an answer.

In one swift move Luffy smacked her on the back of the head “Don’t be a dumbass! We choose who we are,” Yamato was about to retaliate, preparing her own hand for a smack but stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Luffy’s serious expression. “The people in Wano do get to see skies like this from now on because of you. I couldn’t have beat your dad without you.” he took her by the hand in a move that shocked even him “People say my old man’s a revolutionary and I’m nothing like him. Not gonna end up like him either. I chose to be a pirate because I wanted to be free, not because he told me to. You choose your own path, not your dad,” he stared deep into her eyes, huffing slightly from his impassioned speech and only peripherally noticing how close their faces had gotten once again. He gently let go of her hand after realising he still clutched it.

Yamato was too stunned at his sudden outburst to form a coherent reply so she simply gawked at his resolute face. A tense silence settled over the two, neither breaking eye contact. In a voice barely above a whisper, Yamato asked Luffy the very question he tried to avoid.

“What did you talk to Ace about.”

“You.”

Yamato blushed ever so slightly. On some level she had been expecting that answer but wasn’t really sure what to do with it. She inhaled deeply and refused to be the one to break their staring contest. Building up her resolve, she began to address the reasons she had for seeking him out at such a late hour. The wonderful views had been the best kind of distraction but now it was time.

“Why won’t you fight me anymore?”

Luffy tensed up the moment the words left Yamato’s mouth, the complete opposite to the emboldened man from mere moments ago. He still held her gaze intensely but now she could see the faint beginnings of, not quite fear, but doubt and hesitation. It didn’t suit him at all. For a moment Yamato thought he might take off again, kicking off a repeat of their earlier havoc. Despite the low light (and her maintenance of their eye contact) she could see his leg muscles coiled for action and wondered, briefly, if she'd be able to catch him. She also thought she could see his cheeks stained with red but was too focused on the potential chase to process what that might mean. He began to answer but it was clear that he struggled to find the right words.

“I…I don’t really know how to explain it, I’m not smart like Robin or Sanji, I just...I’ve been feeling weird lately and it’s because of you,” he faltered slightly but carried on at the sight of her hurt expression “Not like bad weird just different weird y’know? Ughhh, let me think for a second,” he squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his head furiously. 

Nami’s words of advice from earlier echoed in Yamato’s mind. Be patient with him, she repeated to herself.

After a few seconds of umming and ahhing, Luffy managed to form a complete sentence of explanation “When we fought that time, it felt strange, something I’ve never felt before and it made me confused so I avoided it,” he hung his head in shame but Yamato placed a calloused hand gently on his chin and tilting it upwards in an effort to get him to continue.

“What was it you felt?” she asked slowly so as to not push him too hard and risk him retreating once more. She could do very little about the intensity of her eyes however.

Luffy couldn’t escape her gaze. She locked him with a fierce stare that was equal parts terrifying and captivating. Just like her. With nothing but a scant few inches between her face and his, Luffy closed his eyes, threw his hesitation out to sea and followed his heart as he always had. He kissed her.

It was an innocent thing. Barely more than a peck. To Luffy however, it felt like his world had just imploded. It felt...great. Her lips were far softer than he had anticipated and he found that he quite liked it. She inhaled sharply through her nose and her natural aroma of sea salt and sakura felt amplified to his heightened senses, instantly becoming his new favourite scent. The hand cupping his chin felt like it was on fire to him, with her fingertips every so slightly digging in into his skin in surprise. Just as quickly as he had started the kiss, Luffy pulled away and opened his eyes, unsure of what he might see.

Yamato stared back, eyes wide and face flushed, her lips parted slightly in astonishment, She tried desperately to say something, anything but all that she could manage was a, frankly quite adorable, squeak. Slowly, agonisingly slowly for Luffy, she raised her hand towards her face and delicately traced her bottom lip with the tips of her fingers. She remained silent, not trusting herself to speak again.

Immediately, Luffy wished he hadn’t just done that. He honestly didn’t know why he did. The stress of the recent few days coupled with their close proximity had diminished his already limited self control to the point where we just...snapped. He became overly conscious of himself, darting his eyes about in a fever to find an escape route.. Briefly he considered jumping straight into the ocean, crippling lack of swimming skills be damned. Finding no way out except through certain death (which he still heavily considered), Luffy decided on damage control.

“I...okay, don’t be mad, I’m not sure what made me do that I just-” he began, but Yamato silenced him by balling the hem of his unbuttoned shirt in one hand. Luffy doubted even he could break her white knuckled grip without a struggle. Luffy gulped and dared a look into her face. She was looking down so Luffy couldn’t read her expression. The light shadows cast by the moon and the deck lantern gave her an ethereal glow, one that made Luffy consider repeating his act of impulse. Still, he braced himself for a punch in the face or the very least a slap. 

He definitely did not expect her to kiss him back.

Just like that, Luffy’s brain exploded a second time. All the sensations from just a moment ago came back full force and they felt 10x better with the knowledge that she wasn’t likely to kick his ass afterwards. The hand holding his shirt loosened but remained where it was, and he found his own hand snaking its way to the back of Yamato’s head. Their second attempt wasn’t quite as chaste as their first and Luffy, being the romantic novice that he was, followed her lead throughout. The process was slow, but increased gradually in daring until Luffy was sure he had a firm grasp on the concept. Despite his utter lack of interest beforehand, he found he quite liked this particular activity and wanted very much to continue. Unfortunately for him, the pair remembered, rather reluctantly, that they required oxygen and parted, red faced and huffing. They stared at one another for a few seconds, each searching the other's eyes for any sign of regret or hesitation. 

When Yamato was confident she found neither within the rubber man, she gave a shy smile. “Well, I have to say I wasn’t expecting that when I came to find you,” she giggled. 

Luffy couldn't help but mirror the sentiment. Of all the ways he imagined their confrontation going, this hadn’t even been on his list. He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed alongside the Oni. “Shishishi, nope, definitely not,” he said. It suddenly dawned on him that his knowledge of romantic relationships had about reached its limit the moment he had first kissed her. However, he found that all he had to do was look into her eyes, and he instantly wanted to learn more.

Yamato blessed him with another shy smile, one that made his heart go haywire. “To be honest I don’t really know what this means for us, I’ve never been in this kind of situation before,” she said, clearly just as lost as he was but also equally willing to learn.

Luffy hummed in thought for a moment before grinning widely in his usual fashion. He grabbed her by the hand and squeezed it gently. “Me neither,” he said amusedly “Let’s find out together yeh?” 

It was all Yamato had needed to hear. She squeezed his hand in return and lost herself in his chocolate brown eyes, brimming with joy “Yes,” she said “Let’s”.

~~~

A day later, the flagship of Emperor of the sea Strawhat Luffy could be seen anchored a few hundred meters off the coast of an unassuming, out of the way island. Aboard the ship, two women lounged languidly on the foredeck, soaking in the rays of the summer island, trying their best to ignore the sounds of chaos emanating from the sandy beaches of the shore.

One of them, the orange haired one, sighed, unsuccessful. “How long have they been at it? Three hours?” she said to her companion.

The other woman laughed deeply at her friend's annoyance. “Let them have their fun Nami, it’s long overdue,” she said.

The one named Nami could only sigh again. She got up from her sunbed and made her way to the decks railing to get a look at the commotion. Despite herself she giggled like a schoolgirl at the sight before her, unable to contain her giddiness. In the distance, two figures, a man and a woman stood facing one another. In an instant too fast for Nami to follow, they clashed fist to fist. The resulting sound could be heard for miles. Both were clearly tired but neither showed any sign of slowing down. The thing that stood out most to Nami however, were the massively broad grins that they were both sporting. The navigator turned back to her friend with her own cheeky grin “We’ll probably have to get used to this,” she said, chuckling “I think this is just their version of foreplay”.

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to quickly say why I chose to use female pronouns for Yamato. Personally, I thought that Yamato sees herself as a man solely because Oden was one, as opposed to someone like O-kiku who truly identfied as a woman. If Yamato were to stop trying to imitate Oden, she would no longer see herself as a man and in my headcannon she tries to form her own identity after Wano.
> 
> Also its my first story so sorry if there are issues


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